EL CAJON – Three La Mesa teenagers pleaded guilty in Superior Court yesterday to felony vandalism charges for a series of East County BB gun shootings in which they shot out windows of cars, businesses and homes.

Phillip Michael Murphy and Michael Anthony Ching, both 18, and Joshua Thomas Levitt, 19, admitted committing two shootings in a plea bargain with prosecutors. Police have said they were likely responsible for hundreds more and could have caused up to $500,000 damage in a vandalism rampage from January to July. No one was hurt in the shootings.

The three men pleaded guilty to shooting out a window at a Harley-Davidson dealership on El Cajon Boulevard June 15 and a window of a private car July 6.

In exchange, prosecutor Michael MacNeil said the District Attorney's Office dropped four counts of felony vandalism, five counts of misdemeanor vandalism and one count of conspiracy. Vandalism that causes more than $400 damage is a felony. The men faced up to six years, four months in prison if tried and convicted of all charges, MacNeil said.

The judge said the plea agreement exposes the three men to a maximum sentence of one year in jail, five years on probation and requires them to pay their victims up to $12,000 for the damage they caused.

El Cajon police officer Sal Campos said outside the courtroom that the teenagers told him after their arrest that they drove around El Cajon shooting out windows because "they were bored and they needed some excitement."